A Peek Into The Market Before The Trading Starts

Pre-open movers US stock futures are higher this morning. Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 59 points to 12,628.00 and futures on the S&P 500 stock index rose 6.30 points to 1,341.30. Nasdaq 100 futures surged 16.50 points to 2,390.00. A Peek Into Global Markets Most Asian markets ended higher, with Japan's Nikkei Stock Average dropping 0.66%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 moving up 0.32% and China's Shanghai Composite gaining 0.30%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.76% and India's Sensex surged 0.07%. European markets were lower today. The STOXX Europe 600 Index has dropped 0.38%, London's FTSE 100 Index moved down 0.50%. Broker Recommendation Analysts at Bank of America upgraded Spreadtrum Communications SPRD from “underperform” to “buy.” The target price for SPRD has been raised from $16.50 to $25. SPRD shares gained 3.52% to $20.60 in pre-market trading. Breaking news

• Hertz Global Holdings Inc HTZ offered to purchase Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc DTG for $72 per share. To read the full news, click here.
• AES Corp AES reported its first-quarter results on Monday. The company's quarterly net income surged to $224 million, from $187 million, in the year-earlier period. To read the full news, click here.
• Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. SLXP announced today that Napo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has filed a lawsuit against Salix Pharmaceuticals alleging that the Company has breached its commitments under the Collaboration Agreement between Napo and Salix concerning the development of crofelemer. To read the full news, click here.
• LinkedIn sets its IPO price of $32-$35 per share. To read the full news, click here.

Read more from Benzinga's Markets.